Video Map Synchronizing Diagnostic Information.

ABSTRACT

A method comprising comparing a frame rate of a source video program to a frame rate of a target video program to generate a conversion factor between the two sources; retrieving a target frame and retrieving, responsive to a location of the target video frame within the target video program, and responsive to the conversion factor, a source video frame from within the source video program; determining, by means of an image comparison, equivalence between the target frame and the source frame; generating, responsive to the determining of equivalence, synchronization diagnostic information; and synchronizing, responsive to an analysis of the synchronization diagnostic information, the target frame and the source frame, the synchronizing enabling a set of non-sequential segments of the target video program to be equivalent to a set of non-sequential segments of the source video program.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Systems for, and methods of, seamlessly playing non-sequential segmentfrom within a digitally encoded video.

2. Description of the Related Art

DVD-Videos released by the major motion picture studios conventionallystore a full length motion picture encoded using the H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2video technologies. DVDs generally provide scene selection and subtitlesand/or closed captioning in a plurality of languages. Among otherfeatures, some DVDs include multiple camera angles for a scene, and thecapability to play one of a plurality of different content versions(e.g. a director's cut or unrated version and an “R” rated versions).DVD capable devices, such as a DVD player, or a computer DVD drive witha software DVD player, require a DVD drive and a MPEG decoder. Such DVDdevices provide for, among other features, fast-forward, fast-rewind,skip-forward or skip-backwards by chapters, turn on/off subtitles,subtitle and audio language selection, camera angle selection, and menunavigation to select, for example, multiple content versions.

While DVDs provide many capabilities and functions exceeding thoseprovided by, for example, conventional linear playback formats, DVDdevices do not fully realize the potential of random access videoplayback capabilities that are synergistically integrated with anexternally provided map of a DVD video. Such a map of a DVD video may,for example, identify non-sequential video segments of the DVD videosuitable for a 60 minute condensed presentation of the video. In suchinstances the definition of the beginning and ending video frames of thevideo segments must be responsive to artistic and seamlessness objectiveand not be constrained by technical deficiencies. At 29.97 video framesper second, a few video frames with its associated audio are oftencritical to the editor attempting to define the segments of apresentation from within a DVD video. An editor's artistic andseamlessness objectives require DVD devices capable of discreet beginvideo frame play and seamless play of non-sequential segment from withinthe digitally encoded video.

Microsoft Windows 7 provides codecs and libraries to enable play of DVDswith applications built with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and above. TheMicrosoft website recites that “DirectShow provides a component calledthe DVD Navigator source filter which simplifies DVD navigation tasks inC++. The DVD Navigator has all the capabilities that you find on afull-featured stand-alone DVD player, plus additional capabilitiesspecific to playing DVDs on personal computers. Using the DVD Navigator,C++ and scripting developers can create full-featured DVD applicationswithout referring to the DVD specification. The DVD Navigator, incoordination with the decoder filters, also handles regional managementand copyright protection (CSS and analog copy protection), isolatingapplication developers from these details.” However, the DVD Navigatoronly allows seeking to only certain navigation points in an MPEG encodedvideo such as a major motion picture released on DVD. These navigationpoints may only provide access to video frames that are many frames awayfrom an optimal begin play video frame. The DVD Navigator does not havea built-in function for playing from any desired video frame in an MPEGencoded video. This lack of discreet begin video frame play is amaterial limiting deficiency when attempting to play, from within a DVDvideo, a consecutive presentation of non-sequential segments thatrequire discreet frame seamless playback.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,139,470, discloses creation of an I-frame index file tobe performed after the MPEG data has been compressed, packetized, andmultiplexed. Since the disclosure is limited to the identification of alimited number of predetermined I-frames, the teachings, among othershortcomings, do not provide for a discreet begin video frame play. Thedisclosure fails to anticipate the need for, or creating, as a separatefile from an MPEG stream, seek and step data that facilitates access toI, P, and B frames in the MPEG stream, and for enabling the use of data,created for one release of a movie, on a second release of the samemovie.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONS

The present inventions relate generally to systems for, and methods of,utilizing a plurality of video playback navigators to provide fordiscreet begin video frame play and to seamlessly play non-sequentialsegments from within a digitally encoded video.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present inventions to provide withdiscreet begin video frame play from within a digitally encoded video.

It is also an object of the present inventions to provide with discreetbegin video frame play and for seamless play of non-sequential segmentsfrom within a digitally encoded video.

It is also an object of the present inventions to provide, as a separatefile from an MPEG stream, seek/step data for I, P, and B frames in theMPEG stream.

It is also an object of the present inventions to provide for the use ofa map, created for one format of a video, for a second format of thevideo.

It is also an object of the present inventions to enhance thesynchronization of seek/step data between one format of a video and asecond format of the video.

Briefly, these and other objects are accomplished by a method of, priorto displaying video, utilizing the DVD Navigator to seek to a navigationpoint nearer the desired video frame of the beginning of the firstsegment of the presentation, stepping to that desired video frame, andpausing at the desired begin frame. During this process the videoplayback is hidden from display and the audio is muted. The process isthen repeated for each non-sequential video segment up to the availableor desired number of instances that the DVD Navigator can besimultaneously executed. Each of the DVD Navigator instances is cuedaccording to the sequence of the respective segments. Thepre-processing, in which none of the video segments are displayed,provides the time that is required to seek to a navigation point nearerthe desired video frame of the beginning of a segment of thepresentation, and stepping to that desired video frame. Once thisinitial pre-processing is completed, the playing of only the first videosegment is executed by the appropriate DVD Navigator and is permitted tobe displayed. Only when the playing of the first segment is completed,the second segment is played and displayed providing a seamless skipbetween the first segment and the non-sequential second segment. Thefirst DVD Navigator instance is now available to pre-seek to anavigation point nearer the desired video frame of the beginning of anext unprocessed segment of the presentation.

The switching between DVD Navigators to provide seamless playback isenabled by the use of the computer's real-time clock. The number of DVDNavigators utilized is a function of a device's video software andhardware capabilities and the duration of the segments. Where each ofthe non-sequential segments is of sufficient duration only two DVDNavigator instances may be required to be utilized, thus, minimizing thetime to pre-process the segment information. The seek and step functionis facilitated by the use of a video map that identifies the begin andend frames of segments in a presentation, and seek/step data thatidentifies navigation points and the stepping required to arrive at anyvideo frame. Advantageously, a video map created for one release of amovie is enabled for use on another release of the same movie. Theutilization of multiple DVD Navigators is also facilitated by thecreation of a bookmark that is used to directly access the desiredvideo. The process is advantageously enhanced by enhancing thesynchronization of a map between one format of a video and second formatof the video.

These and other embodiments, features, advantages, and objects, areapparent in the context of the detailed description, accompanyingdrawings, and appended claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawing figures, that form a part of this application, areillustrative of embodiments of the present invention and are not meantto limit the scope of the invention in any manner.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for creating a video map;

FIG. 2A illustrates examples of presentations of a movie;

FIG. 2B graphically illustrates a feature selection screen that enablesa user to select among the various presentations;

FIG. 3 graphically illustrates a content preference screen that enablesa user to establish content preferences in each of a plurality ofcategories of possibly objectionable content;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for creating seek/step data;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method for synchronizing seek/step data toenable the functionality of a video map, created for a movie in onevideo format (e.g. streamed), to be synchronized for the movie in asecond video format;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method for utilizing a plurality of videoplayback navigators to provide for discreet begin video frame play andto seamlessly play non-sequential segment from within a digitallyencoded video;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a multisource receiver transmitterplayer;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a video provider and end user networkarchitecture; and

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method of variably playing a video obtainedfrom a remote video provider.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONS

The descriptions herein will be readily understood by a person havingordinary skill in the art and that person would be expected to beknowledgeable of, for example and not limitation, the “DVDSpecifications for Read-Only Disc/Part 3. Video Specifications” andrelated specifications available from Toshiba Corporation, H.262/MPEG-2Part 2 video technologies, Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows 7operating systems, Microsoft's DirectShow, Microsoft's DVD NavigatorFilter, and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,434,678; 5,737,479; 5,778,135; 6,192,340; 6,208,805;6,317,795; 6,408,128; 6,504,990; 6,553,178; 6,889,383; 7,975,021;8,117,282; 8,494,346; and their respective divisions are incorporatedherein by reference. Where subject matter described directly hereindiffers from subject matter described in an incorporated reference, thesubject matter described directly herein should be considered in thecontext of the embodiments disclosed herein. The incorporated subjectmatter may be considered in the context of alternative embodiments.Further, the selective direct inclusion herein of portions of theincorporated references should not be interpreted as an indication oflack of materiality of the non-directly included portions.

For purposes of the present disclosure, various terms used in the artare defined as follows:

The terms “include”, “comprise”, and “contains” do not limit theelements to those listed. By contrast, only the term “consist” limitsthe elements to those listed.

The terms “application software”, “software application”, “application”,“app”, and “computer software” shall mean all the executable, libraries,scripts, instructions, and/or steps in any format that causes, or isrequired by, a device to perform a task, function, or process.Application software comprises a computer program designed to assist auser to perform task, function, process, or activity. In some instancesapplication software and operating system software may be asynergistically integrated and indivisible.

The term “associate” shall mean assign, give, allocate, associate,designate, ascribe, attribute, link, and/or relate.

The term “clip” shall mean a segment that is smaller than a chapter andusually smaller than a scene. A clip includes one or more contiguousshots, and usually depicts the same primary characters within alocation. A clip's definition is responsive to a material change in theparticipation of the principal characters, a material change inlocation, and/or a distinct change in thematic content or topic ofconversation.

The term “content-on-demand system” shall mean a video-on-demand systemthat is responsive to a user's content preferences. A content-on-demandsystem not only permits a user to obtain a specific video(s) orsegment(s) of videos in response to the user's programming preferences,a content-on-demand system also permits the user to receive a version ofthe video(s) or segment(s) of videos that are responsive to the user'sother types of content preferences. A content-on-demand system and thedelivery of variable content video services as described herein mayutilize a variety of types of hardware and network infrastructure andare not limited to any particular hardware or network infrastructurethat may be employed in a given implementation.

The term “DVD” shall mean a digitally encoded motion picture readablefrom an optical disc. A DVD comprises, for example, an optical discstoring a full length motion picture encoded using the H.262/MPEG-2 Part2 video compression technology; an optical disc in compliance with the“DVD Specifications for Read-Only Disc/Part 3. Video Specifications”available from Toshiba Corporation; and a DVD-Video.

The term “MPEG” shall mean a digital compression/decompressiontechnology. MPEG comprises, for example, a H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2 videocompression/decompression technology.

The term “navigation point” shall mean a navigation pack, NV_PCK, VOBU,GOP, I-frame, and/or any address, location, or point, in a video, that anavigator is capable of seeking to.

The term “navigator” shall mean application software and/or operatingsystem software that provide video playback capabilities, decoding,decrypting, and/or rendering, for playing a movie on a personalcomputer. A navigator comprises, for example, Microsoft's DVD Navigator,decoder filters, and renderer, to handle, for example, CSS and analogcopy protection.

The term “network” shall mean any private or public, wired or wirelessvideo communication system.

The terms “play” and “playing”, as in play or playing a segment of avideo, shall mean playing meaningfully, or substantially all or aportion of a segment. In other words, while a method or system disclosedherein may claim or intend to play the entirety of, or all, of asegment, a complete playing of a segment does not necessarily requirethe playing of every video frame, interlaced field, audio and subpicture portion, and/or bit of data of the segment.

The term “preferences” shall mean “programming preferences”, “versionpreferences”, “presentation preferences”, “content preferences”,“technical preferences”, and “playback preferences”. The term“programming preferences” shall mean preferences for a specific video(e.g. Spider-Man), genres of videos (e.g., Action), types of videos(e.g. interactive video detective games), series of videos (e.g., 007)broad subject matter of videos (e.g. mysteries), and/or time and datefor playback of the video. The term “version preferences” shall meanpreferences for a version of a video (e.g., motion picture), released bythe copyright owner (e.g., motion picture studio), that includes contentnot available in an alternate version of the video. The version of avideo refers to, for example, the “Theatrical”, “Unrated”, and“Director's Cut” version options in a DVD-Video. The version of a videodoes not refer to sequels and/or remakes of a video such as Spider-Man(2002), Spider-Man 2 (2204) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). The term“presentation preferences” shall mean preferences that cause theselective inclusion, in a presentation, of segments from within a video,a version of a video, or from within a plurality of videos. ThePresentations, Compilations, Subjects, Dilemmas, Best Of, Performers,Shopping, Music, Search, and Preview features of the CustomPlayapplication provide for presentation preferences. The term “contentpreferences” shall mean preferences for the form of expression,explicitness, inclusion or exclusion of objectionable content, a levelof explicitness in each of a plurality of content categories of possiblyobjectionable content, length, level of detail, type of thematiccontent, and/or depictions of potentially objectionable items and/oracts. The Control feature of the CustomPlay application provides forcontent preferences. The term “technical preferences” shall meanpreferences for the technical and/or artistic preferences for, forexample, the type of transitions (e.g., dissolves, fades, and wipes)that may be implemented during the playing of non-sequential segments.The term “playback preferences” shall mean preferences for the visualand audio options (e.g., camera angles, picture with picture, subtitles,closed captioning, and commentaries) provided in a video.

The terms “seamless” and “seamlessly” shall mean without gapsperceptible to the human eye, achieved by maintaining a constant videotransmission rate. A seamless playing of non-sequential segment (i.e.,the skipping of a segment) while “seamless”, may not appear artisticallyseamless to a user (i.e., the substance of the content that is played,rather than how it is played, suggests that a skip of content tookplace).

The term “seek/step data” shall mean any index, data, and/or informationthat facilitates access to a video frame within a video and/orfacilitates the utilization of a video map with a video. Seek/Step dataneed not include step data (e.g., data informing a frame advance).Seek/step data may, without the step data, directly address every videoframe within a video. Further, for example, and not limitation,seek/step data need not be based on navigation points, synchronizinginformation (i.e., seek/step data) may be based on shot changes or scenechanges in the video.

The terms “segment” and “video segment” shall mean one or more videoframes.

The term “trailer” shall mean a trailer, preview, video clip, stillimage, and/or other content that precedes and/or is extraneous to themovie.

The term “user” is interchangeable with the terms “subscriber”,“viewer”, and “person”, and shall mean an end-user person actively usingvideo content, passively viewing a video, interactively playing a videogame, retrieving video from a video provider, and/or activelysubscribing to and using multimedia, internet, and/or communicationservices.

The term “variable content video” shall mean a video characterized by anonlinear architecture facilitating a variety of possible logicalsequences of segments. A variable content video comprises parallel,transitional, and/or overlapping segments to provide multiple versionsof a video. Responsive to the particular embodiment implemented, avariable content video may also include a user interface, applicationsoftware, software program routines, system control codes forcontrolling the playing of the video/audio, video map, seek/step data,and/or map synchronization data. A video that does require parallel,transitional, and/or overlapping segments to be variably played.

The terms “video”, and “video program” are interchangeable and shallmean any video image regardless of the source, motion, or technologyimplemented. A video comprises images and audio found in full motionpicture programs, films, movies, interactive electronic games, and videoproduced by multi-media systems. Video comprises still characters,graphics, images, motion pictures, films, and multimedia productions;full motion pictures and television programming; news, sports, cultural,entertainment, commercial, advertisements, instructional, andeducational programming. Responsive to the particular embodimentimplemented, a video may also comprise video, audio, sub pictureinformation, and/or other information associated with the video, such asa user interface, application software, software program routines,system control codes for controlling the playing of the video/audio,video map, bookmark instructions, seek/step data, and/or mapsynchronization data. The term “movie” shall mean a type of a videogenerally comprising a full length motion picture. A video such as aDVD-Video provides navigation data, menus, trailers, and, for example, adigitally compressed full length movie.

The terms “video map”, “map”, and “segment map”, shall mean anycombination, arrangement, table, database, or listing of informationdefining a beginning and ending of one or more segments. A video map mayfurther comprise at least one descriptor associated with at least onesegment or a sequence of segments, and/or seek/step data. A defining ofa beginning and ending of a segment may be by, for example, directlyidentifying a beginning and by indirectly identifying an ending bydefining the duration of the segment. A descriptor is a word, term,code, phrase, or designation to describe or categorize.

The term “video-on-demand system” shall mean any video delivery systemthat is responsive to a user's programming preferences, i.e. provides auser-selected video at a user-selected time. Video-on-demand comprises,for example, movies-on-demand, video dial tone, cellular video, anddigital satellite systems that are responsive to a user's time and datepreferences and that provide play control functionality in the viewingof a video.

Where not explicitly and unambiguously inconsistent with the specificcontext, the above defined terms and other terms defined herein are tobe understood in the broadest sense.

The teachings herein with respect to a video may be applied to, forexample, any type or kind of content that may be captured in a videoformat, including motion pictures, movies, television programs, newsprograms, sports programs, educational videos, advertisements,informationals, commercials, and other videos that promote products andservices. While a particular feature may be detailed with respect to aspecified type of video, it is intended to apply the teachings hereinbroadly and harmoniously across all different types and classes ofvideo, including, for example, and not by way of limitation, a variablecontent video and a variable content game.

Video Map

In a preferred embodiment, a video map is a SQLite database comprising aplurality of segment definitions each defining a video segment within avideo. A video frame is any image or partial image in any digital oranalog format comprising, for example, a frame of video, a video field,and an I, B, or P frame. A video frame may comprise or be associatedwith audio information. A segment definition defines (e.g., identifies)a begin frame and an end frame of a segment within a video. A videoframe or position in a video may be identified by a variety of meansincluding, for example, time codes in an HH:MM:SS:FF (Hours, Minutes,Seconds, and Frames) format, sequential frame integer format FFFFFF, bitpositions, logical positions, physical location identifiers, or anyformat that can identify a location or position in a video.

A video map provides the information required by a feature or range offeatures that enable the customized playing and retrieval of content andinformation from within a video. The range of feature sets supported bya video map may comprise, for example, Presentations, Compilations,Subjects, Dilemmas, Best Of, Performers, Shopping, Music, Search,Preview, and Control, as well as many others. For example, thePresentations feature sets enable the user to select among a “60Minutes” presentation, a “Custom” presentation that is responsive to theuser's preferences for the level of explicitness in each of fourteencategories of possibly objectionable content (e.g. violence), apresentation that focuses on the action, a presentation from acharacter's perspective, and to play the movie as is. (The feature setsare detailed further below.)

In the case of a 60 Minutes presentation, the video map provides aplurality of segment definitions whose total playing time is between 55and 60 minutes prior to any objectionable content customization. Thesegment definitions in a presentation's table are associated with anappropriate descriptor (e.g., 0, 1, 2, etc.) to differentiate thosesegment definitions from segment definitions that may correspond to adifferent presentation. The descriptors reference a separate table thatassociates a descriptor with a presentation name (e.g., 60 Minutes) fordisplay in the UI.

The video map further comprises a reference to a visual depiction thatis representative of a corresponding presentation. A visual depiction isany image or representation in image form, irrespective of the source,motion, quality, or relative size. A reference comprises, for example adirection, pointer, instructions, location to a source within the video,associated with the video, external to the video, remote to the video,or unrelated to the video. In a preferred embodiment, the reference to avisual depiction of a presentation comprises a timecode to a locationwithin the video from which a depiction of a video frame suggesting thecharacter of the presentation may be extracted. Alternatively, forexample, the reference to a visual depiction comprises a link to animage available at a website or webpage.

The creation of the information in a video map supporting, for example,the 60 Minutes presentation may be guided by written guidelines and dataformats (“specifications”) that facilitate standardizing the methodologyimplemented in defining segments and assigning descriptors. Use of thespecifications ensures a consistent quality experience for a userirrespective of the particular movie. In a preferred embodiment, thecreation of segments definitions for a specific feature is executed by atrained editor (“mapper”) guided by a feature specific specifications tocreate consistently elegant definitions of segments for that feature.

A video map, segment information, and/or descriptors may be provided bya variety of data formats. Means for storing segment data comprise, forexample, a text or flat file, an xml document, and/or fields and tablesin a database. There are many design choices that are available indrafting of the specifications' guidelines and data formats, and thecorresponding application and data query routines. For example, the datefor a sixty minute presentation need not be more than a text file or xmldata providing a list of segment definitions. For example: 00:01:20:17,00:02:41:14; 00:05:15:21, 00:05:37:08; 00:05:55:06, 00:06:12:03; . . . .In a preferred embodiment, a video map comprises such tables, fields,indexes, and relational relationships to suit particular data andretrieval performance objectives.

In a preferred embodiment, the mapping of a video implements an assemblymethodology where the creation of a map for each of the features iscreated by one or more of different group of specialist mappers andquality control personnel. Advantageously, the eleven feature sets arecreated by fourteen departments. The fourteen departments and theirprimary feature supported are: SIX and PRE (Presentations); COM(Compilation); SUB (Subjects); DIL (Dilemma); BES and CHA (Best Of andPerformers); ADS (Shopping); MUS (Music); ITE, ITM, CLI, and SCE(Search); and OBJ (Preview and Control). In addition, video and otherinformation is obtained by support and other specialized departments andincluded in a map.

Mapping of a video need not be the product of one or more mappers withinan organization. The various maps of a movie may be created by acommunity supported methodology. Enhancing the richness of the mappingof segment while retaining a consistent and efficient coding may beaccomplished by managing the contributions by a community supportedmethodology. The advantage of a community supported methodology is thepotential to maximize the number movies for which, for example, apresentation is created. In a community supported methodology, a userwith specific expertise in a motion picture may contribute apresentation. This contribution may be internally reviewed by a mapperor quality control supervisor, and/or be externally reviewed by the usercommunity. Adherence to the requirements of the specification and dataformats promotes the effectiveness of the architecture. The onlineencyclopedia “Wikipedia” provides an example of one of a number ofcommunity supported methodologies that serve as a production model. Usercontribution may be encouraged by the dynamics of an economic model.Additionally or alternatively, a user contribution may be encouraged anddirectly compensated by, for example, monetary payments, or indirectlycompensated by, for example, the issuance of video content access minutecredits in proportion to the value of the amount of the contribution.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of method for creating a video map for one ormore feature sets. In those embodiments, where a map creation processcomprises the use of specifications, a video map production methodologycomprises steps of drafting a specification 101 and publishing thespecification externally 111, and/or distributing the specificationinternally 114. If a user collaborative methodology is implemented 110alone or in combination with other methodologies, then it isadvantageous to publicly publish the specifications 111. Alternatively,no specification is provided, and the user collaborative methodology isleft to directly or indirectly develop its own specifications.Alternatively, in cooperation with such collaborative methodology,exemplary video maps may be published to serve as the specification toenable the community to proceed with video map production.

In a collaborative implementation, the user community may be providedwith mapping capability, e.g., software, 112 that facilitates thedrafting of maps by users 113. Alternatively, or in cooperativecombination with such collaborative methodology, e.g., trained mappers115 which have specialized mapping software 116, can create video maps117. If neither the users 120 nor an internal staff performs qualitycontrol (“QC”) 130, then the video maps produced by either the users 113or the mappers 117 are published to end users 139 for use. If, as inother collaborative methodologies, users here also provide qualitycontrol 120, then work product of the users and/or the mappers, asappropriate is published 121 for purposes of quality control.

Users are provided with quality control capability 122 that enables themto provide quality control for video maps 123. Alternatively, or incooperative combination with such collaborative methodology 130, mappersperform, with the aid of quality control training, software, and systems135, an independent or dependent quality control of the video maps 136.Video maps that have undergone quality control at the external userlevel 123 or at the internal mapper level 136 are in due coursepublished 139 for use by the end users. Published video maps 139 neednot remain static, instead, advantageously, video maps after they arepublished, and while substantially completed, are viewed as work inprogress 140. This would enable the end users and/or mappers to enhancevideo maps over time.

Notwithstanding the particular disclosure with respect to FIG. 1, aparticular video map production embodiment need not produce all of thedefinitions and descriptors required to support all of the featuresdetailed herein or incorporated herein by reference, and a video mapneed not be responsive to any specification and/or data format. Asdescribed above, a video map need only consist of information directlyor indirectly identifying a beginning and ending of one or moresegments, and one or more descriptors that may be necessary to support asingle feature. Thus, in certain embodiments, the steps of drafting aspecification 101 and publishing the specifications 111, among othersteps, may be omitted. In those instances where individual feature mapsare created, they may be merged into a map that combines all the variousfeature maps. Further, a particular set of steps of the video mapproduction methodology may be used for one feature, e.g., the 60 Minutespresentation, and a different set of steps of the video map productionmethodology may be used for a different feature, e.g., Shopping.

Presentation Preferences

The CustomPlay media player application enables extracting a range ofpresentations from within a movie or a plurality of movies. TheCustomPlay application exploits random access technologies to provideinnovative presentations, special features, and playback capabilities.An embodiment of the CustomPlay application runs on a Windows PC andplays DVD-Videos released by the major motion picture studios. Afull-featured map identifies an average of over 2,000 segments within afull length motion picture. Each segment is assigned the necessarydescriptors to support one or more of the eleven feature sets(Presentations, Compilations, Subjects, Dilemmas, Best Of, Performers,Shopping, Music, Search, Preview, and Control) and various playbackcapabilities.

The Presentations feature provides storyline driven depictions that arefocused on a genre, theme, perspective, or idea within a video.Presentations include Action, ActionX, Romance, Comedy, andIntellectual. A Sixty Minutes presentation retains the story flow,principal characters, themes, and the most memorable water-coolermoments. A Perspective presentation places a viewer within the emotionalframework of a character. A storyline driven presentations is generallylonger than 40 minutes.

The Compilations feature provides clips from a video that share similarcontent or theme without being driven by the plot or story. The Actioncompilation of the movie Dredd plays all the graphic action sceneswithout plot or story to interrupt the violence. The comedy compilationof Ted plays a highlight reel of the hilarious vulgar comedy. AnIntellectual compilation of Contact plays the religious andphilosophical debate so they it can be discussed without viewing thefilm. The Conversation compilation of Bad Santa plays the hilarious andtouching conversations between Thurman Merman and Santa. A compilationpresentation averages 10-30 minutes.

The Subjects feature provides sets of segments that are intended toamuse, inform, or parody. Subjects include Action (the nonstop gunfirein Predator), Character Mannerisms (blinky Bella in Twilight), Comedy(Ted's rants in Ted), Dirty Talk (dialog shifted from innocent tonaughty), Film Technique (lens flares in Star Trek), Hidden Items(oranges in The Godfather), and Movie in A Nutshell (a nutty parody ofthe movie). A subject presentation averages 1-3 minutes.

The Dilemmas feature provides some of the most intellectuallystimulating clips in a movie to provoke taught and conversations.Dilemmas depict conflicts between two competing moral principles such ascompassion, financial responsibility, obligation to employees, parentalresponsibility, pursuit of soul mate, and self-actualization. A dilemmapresentation averages 30-120 seconds.

The Best Of feature provides access to a video's best lines (each onesegment of 5-10 seconds), best performances (each one segment of 1-2minutes), memorable moments (each one segment of 1-2 minutes), memorablecharacter presentations (each a set of segments totaling 30-45 seconds),and romantic moments (each one segment of 2-3 minutes). The Best Offeature also identifies the best depiction in each category in eachvideo. The Best line in The Godfather: Don Corleone muttering “I'm goingto make him an offer he can't refuse”. The Best Performance in On theWaterfront: Marlon Brandon when he proclaims that he could have been acontender. The Most Memorable Character in Pirates of the Caribbean: TheCurse of the Black Pearl: Captain Jack Sparrow's boorish mannerisms andswagger. The Most Romantic Moment in Casablanca: The moment when Rickresponds “We'll always have Paris”. The Most Memorable Moment in TheMatrix: Neo appearing to bend time while narrowly dodging bullets on therooftop of a downtown high-rise. The Performers feature supplements theBest Of feature and provides, for a principal performer, the retrievalof all the performer's clips (each clip 30-60 seconds, best lines, bestperformances, an intimate close-up presentation (each presentation 30-45seconds), and memorable character presentation.

The Shopping feature provides links of an item or location depicted invideo to a website that can provide additional information and/or theopportunity to purchase the item or obtain the service. The Shoppingfeature may be accessed during video playback, or through the Shoppingcatalog which provides 15-40 seconds presentations for a depictedproduct or service. Examples of featured Shopping items and servicesinclude: a life size statue of the T-800 statue from Terminator, theAlgerian Love Knot necklace from Casino Royale, Arthur's leather jacketfrom Inception, and a James Bond bungee jump experience from Golden Eye.The Shopping feature links a musical item depicted in the video to awebsite that can provide additional information and/or purchase themusical item. Music may be accessed during movie playback, or throughits own catalog of 30-90 sec. presentations.

The Search feature provides keyword searching for, for example, items,actions, performers, characters, film technique, production mistake,locations, and best lines” and retrieving segments, clips and scenescomprising the searched depiction. A Search segment is 5-10 seconds, aclip is 30-60 seconds, and a scene is 2-5 minutes. Examples of keywordsearches include: “Trinity Ducati 996” in The Matrix; “Spider-Man kissMJ” in Spider-Man; “filmmaking wipes” in Star Wars; “Brooklyn Decker CPxcleavage” in Battleship; and “bloody horse head” in The Godfather. TheSearch feature is the most capable in an embodiment that enablessimultaneously searching a plurality of videos, e.g. the 007 movieseries.

The Control feature enables the customization of a presentationaccording to a user's preferences for the level of explicitness (e.g.,None, Mild, Explicit, and Graphic) in each of fourteen categories ofpossibly objectionable content (e.g., Bigotry, Blasphemy, BodilyFunctions, Dishonor Flag, Dishonor Parent, Gore, Hideous, Mature,Nudity, Sex, Substance Abuse, Violence, Violence to Animals, andVulgarity). The Control feature enables the exclusion of possiblyobjectionable content. By contrast, the Preview features provides a userthe capability to selective retrieve the possibly objectionable contentby a level of explicitness for each of the fourteen categories ofpossibly objectionable content. Preview provides an efficient access tocontent to, for example, enable an informed decision when adjusting theobjectionable content preferences.

The CustomPlay application advantageously utilizes the data thatsupports the various features to enable innovative video playbackcapabilities including the “Who?” (U.S. Pat. No. 8,494,346), and “What?”(U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,408,128 and 7,430,360) functions, and the “In-MovieShopping” feature. The Who? function, when enabled by the user duringplayback, utilizes performer and clip data to identify the performersand characters being depicted. The Who? Function also provides websitelinks to additional information. The What? function, when enabled by theuser during playback, rewinds the video a user defined amount of timeand continues playback with the subtitles temporarily enabled. TheIn-Movie Shopping feature, if enabled, displays a small icon in thebottom left corner of the screen when there is more informationavailable for the currently displayed item, prop, or music.Alternatively, or additionally, the In-Movie Shopping feature, ifenabled, superimposes on the video an image and brief description of allthe purchasable items depicted within the previous 30 seconds. TheIn-Movie Shopping feature provides access to web pages where additionalinformation is available.

The CustomPlay application advantageously enables a “Play From” functionthat enables a user to continue playback from a current position in thevideo irrespective of the particular feature that is currently beingused. For example, a user may utilize the Search feature to obtain alist of segments that are responsive to a keyword search. While playingone of the segments in the last, the user may activate the Play Fromfunction to play the video from that point in the segment.

FIG. 2A graphically illustrates a number of presentations of a moviedefined by the video map for the motion picture Spider-Man. Depicted inblack blocks 221 223 are the segments included in a presentation. Thespace in between black blocks 222 is content that is excluded (i.e.,skipped) from the presentation. The various presentations are 60 Minutes211, Romance 212, and Action 213. The user is also provided the optionto play the Theatrical version 201 and a Custom presentation. Theillustration depicts the substantial number of skips in the retrieval ofnon-sequential segments that are required to play a presentation. Twosegments are deemed to be non-sequential segments when their playbackrequires a skip of a segment. In other words, two segments are deemed tobe non-sequential segments when the linear playback of consecutivesegments is discontinued by a skip of a segment. In the Actionpresentation 213 of FIG. 2A, segment 223 is intended to be playedimmediately after segment 221 is played, with the segment in between 222being seamlessly skipped. Thus, segments 221 and 223 are an example ofone type of non-sequential segments. As in the case of when a segment is“grafted” from another point in the movie, a playlist of non-sequentialsegments need not be played in the order of the begin frame timecode. Inother words, another type of non-sequential segments is where a segmentthat is played has a begin frame timecode that precedes the end frametimecode of the prior played segment.

FIG. 2B graphically illustrates a feature selection screen for thePresentations set of features. The Presentations selection screen 250 isaccessed by the Features tab 251 in the application's UI. The featurestab 251 displays a features menu 252 listing, and providing access to,the primary functions, feature sets, and options of the application. Thefeatures menu 252 lists the application feature sets comprisingPresentations, Compilations, Subjects, Dilemmas, Best Of, Performers,Shopping, Music, Search, Preview, and Control. The features menu 252also provides access to video selection functions (Videos) and useroptions and settings (Options).

In the case of the motion picture Spider-Man, the Presentation set offeatures 261 include the options for a user to play: (i) the movie as is(Play As Is); (ii) a Custom presentation of the movie that is customizedaccording to the user's content preferences; (iii) a 60 Minutespresentation comprising the principal plot and noteworthy elements; (iv)an Action presentation that focuses on the action elements andsubstantially excludes the romance and family plot elements; (v) apresentation from the perspective of the Green Goblin; and (vi) aRomance presentation that minimizes the action and focuses on theromance.

Upon a user selecting a presentation, the user's presentation preferenceis applied to the video map to generate a playlist of segments that isconsistent with user's presentation preference. For example, if the userselects the Action presentation 213 FIG. 2A, the selection of segmentsfor playback would be materially the opposite of those that would beselected for the Romance presentation 212 FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 graphically illustrates a content preference screen that enablesa user to establish content preferences. The Control selection screen370 is accessed by the Features tab 371 in the application's UI. TheControl feature 372 enables a user to establish content preferences forthe level of explicitness (i.e., None, Mild, Explicit, or Graphic) 381in each of fourteen categories of possible objectionable content (i.e.,Bigotry, Blasphemy, Bodily Functions, Dishonor Flag, Dishonor Parent,Gore, Hideous, Mature Subjects, Nudity, Sex, Substance Abuse, Violence,Violence to Animals, and Vulgarity) 382. In this particular screen UI,users indicate their selections by using the player's remote controlunit, and pressing the UP and Down keys to select a category, and bypressing the number 0 key for None, a number 1 key for Mild, a numberkey 2 for Explicit, and a number 3 key for Graphic. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 2C, depicted with the CP logo 383 are the userspecific content preferences for each category. The user in this casehas elected to omit depictions of blasphemy during the playing ofvideos.

A viewer may pre-establish content preferences prior to playing anyvideo, prior to playing a specific video, and modify the contentpreferences during a playing of the video with the new contentpreferences being applied to as the playing of the video resumes orcontinues. Advantageously, video specific content preferences willdisplay only the options for which content is actually present in thevideo. For example, if the video does not contain any depictions ofGore, the Acceptable Level Of Explicitness will be set at Noneirrespective of any generalized pre-established content preference.Further, set of content preferences may be established for each of aplurality of users, be password protected, with supervisor limits set bycategory.

If the user selects, the 60 Minutes presentation and also request thatthe user's content preferences for the level of explicitness in each offourteen categories be applied to that presentation, then the resulting“Custom 60 Minutes” presentation may be reduced to 45 minutes. Theapplication of a user's content preferences to the video map results inthe automated logical selection of sequential and non-sequentialsegments of the selected video that are consistent with the user'scontent preferences. Any segment, with a content coding higher(abstract) than the user-selected content preference for thecorresponding category would not be included in the video produced forthe user. The segment selected for viewing would satisfy thepresentation preference and would have a coding level equal to or lowerthan the user specified content preference for that category

Seek/Step Data

As a result of the I P B encoding technologies implemented, video framesin an MPEG-2 stream are coded and decoded in a different order than theyare displayed. For example, an MPEG-2 GOP may be encoded, ordered in thecoded stream, and decoded in the following order: I(1) P(4) B(2) B(3)P(7) B(5) B(6) P(10) B(8) B(9); and subsequently outputted from thedecoder and played in the order: I(1) B(2) B(3) P(4) B(5) B(6) P(7) B(8)B(9) P(10). A B and P picture cannot be directly retrieved and properlydecoded without decoding other pictures included in the stream. Forexample, if a begin frame in a segment is the B(3) picture, then theI(1) P(4) B(2) pictures would be required to be retrieved and decoded,even though the I(1) and B(2) would not be required to be displayed.Since a few video frames with its associated audio is often critical toa mapper attempting to define the segments of a presentation from withina video, the optimum definition of a begin and an end frame of a segmentis often not an I-frame. Thus, in order to be responsive to the artisticobjectives of the mapper, it is necessary to implement a system thatenables unrestricted frame editing and subsequent precise video frameaccess during a playing of a video.

In order to facilitate unrestricted frame access with frame precision(begin playing at any frame within the video) it is advantageous toidentify the navigation points, in a video, which a particular navigatoris capable of seeking to, and to provide the number of frame stepsrequired to reach each of the other frames within the video. This methodprovides advantages and addresses challenges not appreciated by theprior art. For example, as previously disclosed, the objectionablecontent control feature of the CustomPlay player enables customizing thepresentation of a movie according to a user's preferences for the levelof explicitness (i.e., None, Mild, Explicit, or Graphic) in each offourteen categories of possible objectionable content (i.e., Bigotry,Blasphemy, Bodily Functions, Dishonor Flag, Dishonor Parent, Gore,Hideous, Mature, Nudity, Sex, Substance Abuse, Violence, Violence toAnimals, and Vulgarity). When a user's possible content preferencepermutations are then applied to a presentation having its own segmentdefinitions, the mathematically calculated potential desired videoframes that would define the playlist easily exceeds the number of videoframes in a movie. Rather than limit, the data to some predefined setof, for example, I-frames, it is simply more expedient and advantageousto create seek/step data that provides complete real-time seek and stepthat is not limited to a limited set of navigation points in a movie.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for creating seek/step data. Sincenot all video formats may provide, within the required performancelimits and the capabilities of the specific navigator, for a direct seekto the desired navigation points, it may be desirable to first conduct averification step 401. The verification step 401 is intended to verifythat navigation points are accessible by the navigator within acceptablelimits. Inaccessible areas that are not acceptable tend to have a gapbetween accessible navigation points greater than 5 seconds. A standardDVD-Video seek function is utilized to execute time seeks at intervalsof two seconds through the entire duration of a video title. When anarea is encountered that is not successfully seeked 402, a failure erroris recorded by the application 403, and the verification process 401, ifnot completed 404, continues. If the verification process is completed404, the failure record is checked to verify if the video is at thisstage deemed suitable for its intended purpose 405. If determined notsuitable the process is terminated.

Once the initial verification process is completed 404, and the video isdeemed suitable 405, then a more thorough seek operation of the video isexecuted to identify the navigation points 411. The ultimate objectiveis to generate a set of instructions to enable a standard navigator,such as the DVD Navigator, to begin displaying content from any frame inthe video. Advantageously, the seek operation is executed in reverse,meaning the video is navigated starting at the end and moves backwardsthrough the navigation points towards the beginning of the video. Thismethod is simpler and quicker than a forward seek method. In a DVD-Videoembodiment the timecode of the navigation point is mathematicallyconverted into an integer format at 30 frames per second. For example,the 00:01:05:20 (hh:mm:ss:ff) timecode is converted to 1970 frames. Thenavigation point identifier is collected in a file (e.g., simple textfile, or database). The particular timecode format and data format(e.g., binary, text, database, and html) and transport that are selectedwill be responsive to the particular application embodiment and theplayer resources available. An example of a portion and format of thenavigation point seek data follows:

180

165

150

Each of the numbers “180”, “165”, and “150” represent a navigationpoint. At the completion of the thorough seek process 411, the seek dataonly identifies accessible navigation points within the video. In apreferred embodiment, each navigation pack in a DVD-Video title will berepresented by a corresponding navigation point identified in the seekdata. On occasion, the seek generation process 411 excludes navigationpoints within the video stream that are not accessible 412 withincertain limitations or time constraints, resulting in larger gapsbetween seek points and larger step frame counts. The amount ofnavigation points which may result in problematic or inaccurate seeks isvariable to both the specific video title as well as the video title'sframe position. Potentially problematic or inaccurate seeks are excludedfrom the seek data 412.

In order to provide access to any frame, the available seek data isinterpreted by the application and converted into a file which containsa complete set of seek and step data for every frame of the video 421.An example of a portion and format of the seek and step data follows:

150,9

150,10

150,11

165,0

165,1

165,2

165,3

In this example, the 130^(th) row or line of data contains the “150,10”seek/step data. The row number identifies the frame number 130 (at anencoded rate of 24 frames per second). The numeral “150” represents theseek frame of a navigation point (at a playback rate of 30 frames persecond). The numeral “10” represents the number of frames required to bestepped forward to reach the frame designated by the row “150,10”. Thenumeral “10” is at an encoded rate of 24 frames per second. Theseek/step data “150,10” provides the information to seek and step toframe 130.

The utilization of the data may be dependent on the application andnavigator embodiment. For example, an embodiment utilizing the DVDNavigator requires that a minimum of 15 steps be executed. Thus, inorder to seek and step to the frame designated by row “165,3”, the seekis instead directed by the row “150,0” and 15 steps are executed inorder to reach the frame designated by row “165,3”. If a video framedesignated by row “165,2” was the target, then a navigation point priorto the one designated “150,0” would provide the seek point as the totalnumber of steps from “150,0” to “165,2” would only be 14.

In certain instances, the number of navigation points which may resultin problematic or inaccurate seeks and that would be excluded wouldundermine the capability of a system to deliver a seamless presentation.The number of steps to reach a video frame from a seekable navigationpoint exceeds the amount of time allocated or available for the event.Thus, rather than exclude potentially problematic or inaccuratenavigation points from the seek data, the seek data advantageouslyidentifies such navigation points and provides diagnostic information toattempt to correct seek errors.

Accordingly, and advantageously, the seek generation process 411identifies problematic seeks 413 and records error type data and otherdiagnostic information particular to that navigation point 414. Thediagnostic information 414 may, for example, indicate conflict with aVOB cell transition area that interferes with seeking by a particularnavigator. In other instances, a navigator may generate a false positiveseek. If errors and/or conflicts in the seek data are present 415, themethod for creating seek/step data advantageously comprises theadditional steps of analyzing the synchronization diagnostic information416 to verify the integrity of the generated seek data and/or correct atleast some, if not all, of the errors/conflicts in the seek data 417.Adjusting seek/step data and correcting false positives 417 enablessalvaging potentially necessary navigation point and frame access. Theadjustments and/or corrections of the data 417 may be performed by aperson or automated, and in a manner responsive to, for example, theparticular navigator embodiment and type of issue. For example, ininstances where a VOB transition area is present at, and/or conflicts,with access to a navigation point, the navigation point may instead beaccessed by a seek to a prior navigation point and a step forward to theframe at the target navigation point. In this instance the adjustedseek/step data would instruct stepping a number of frames that would begreater than normal, but within the acceptable limits. In the examplethat follows, a VOB cell transition area exists at frame 225, thatconflicts with seek at 225.

210,10

210,11

225,0

225,1

225,2

In that instance the, seek/step data would be corrected as follows:

210,10

210,11

210,12

210,13

210.14

As a particular embodiment, navigator, or video may require, each row ofthe seek/step data may be appended with additional compensating stepdata, and/or additional information and instructions. For example,additional data can be appended to each frame row in the seek/step fileto provide the necessary compensating information to address pull-downand drop-frame considerations. In some DVD-Videos, areas of a video areencoded at mixed frame rates. In those instances additional pieces ofdata can be appended to each frame row in the seek/step data byrepresenting additional frame steps needed to be executed in order tocompensate for the increase in frames. Once the necessary adjustmentsand corrections are made the seek/step data is generated 421. It shouldbe appreciated that the seek/step data in this embodiment is responsiveto both the video format (e.g., DVD-Video), the authoring idiosyncrasiesof a particular video in that format, and the capabilities anddeficiencies of the navigator utilized (e.g., DVD Navigator).

In one illustrative embodiment a video map comprises: (i) segmentinformation defining a begin video frame and an end video frame of eachof a plurality of video segments within a video, the segment informationenabling, responsive to a user's content preferences, of a playing of apresentation of the video less in length than the length of the video,the presentation seamlessly skipping a playing of a video segment withinthe video; and (ii) seek/step data identifying, for each of a pluralityof video frames within the video, a navigation point and a number ofvideo frames that are required to step to a video frame, the seek/stepdata enabling a navigator to seek to a navigation point appropriate to abegin video frame of a video segment, to step to the begin video frameof the video segment, and to begin playing at the begin video frame ofthe video segment.

Map Synchronization

As previously indicated, since a few video frames with its associatedaudio is often critical in defining video segments within a video, a mapfor a movie in one video format is usually required to be synchronizedto a second video format of the movie. For example, a map created for amovie released in an MPEG-2 format (e.g., a DVD-Video) is likely torequire some level of synchronization to that same movie released fordownloading or streaming in, for example, an MPEG-4 format, and viceversa. The synchronization of a map for a movie may be carried outdirectly or indirectly through the synchronization of the seek/step datafor the various formats of the movie. In some situations a simpleadjustment reflecting the addition or deletion of beginning content in amovie between one format and the other is all that is required. Thiswould be the case, for example, when the studio logo or introductionincluded in the movie is changed from one release to the other. However,in many instances, the various navigation points identified in theseek/step data require calibration.

The flow chart of FIG. 5 details a method for synchronizing seek/stepdata to enable the functionality of a video map, created for a movie ina first video format (e.g. streamed), to be synchronized for the moviein a second video format (e.g., a DVD-Video release). Seek data fornavigation points for the movie in a second video format (the targetvideo program) are identified 501 in a manner similar to the generationof seek/step data detailed with respect to FIG. 4. The seek data for thetarget video program is reordered in ascending order. The frame ratesfor the target video program and the movie in the first video format(the source video program) are compared to create a conversion factor502. The generated conversion factor 502 is first used to identify theapproximate location in the respective formats of at least one set ofequivalent frames 503. A video application responsive to each videoformat initializes the video for video frame analysis 511, preferablyutilizing equivalent video resolutions. An initial image comparison stepis performed for one set of frames to verify the accuracy of theconversion factor. This image comparison is executed by selecting alater navigation point in the target video program, for example, 80minutes in the movie, and comparing it to the calculated video frame inthe source video program 512. If a suitable match is established (i.e.,the images represent equivalent frames) the conversion factor isvalidated 513. Otherwise, the conversion factor is adjusted 514, and theimage comparison is again performed 512. Sometimes, depending on, forexample, the encoding, frame-rates, pull-downs, drop frames, and/ortelecine, a more complex or variable conversion factor or methodologymay be required.

Once the conversion factor or methodology is deemed satisfactory 514,the process of identifying the equivalent video frames begins withseeking to the first navigation point in the target video program 521;seeking/steeping in the source video program to the calculatedcomparable frame less two frames 522; and comparing the video frameidentified by the first navigation point in the target video program tothe frame in the source video program 523. It should be appreciated thatseeking and stepping in the source video program is also likely torequire the use of a corresponding seek/step data for that format of thevideo. A video frame being compared is stored in memory as a bitmap forboth the target video program and the source video program, and everypixel in the bitmap is compared between the bitmap of the target videoframe and the bitmap of the source video frame. The pixel comparisonprocess allows for a slight contrast difference which can occur betweenthe two formats. Each comparison is graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1being poor and 10 being perfect 524. The grading is responsive tomismatched pixels. To increase efficiency, the bitmaps are firstcompared at a lower resolution ( 1/40, 1/12, and ⅙ scale). Once theinitial frame comparison is executed, the process is repeated for thenext consecutive seven video frames in the source video program. If anadditional frame in the set is to be compared 525, the video in thesource video program is advanced one video frame 526, and the videoframe identified by the navigation point in the target video program iscompared to the video frame in the source video program 523. The extravideo frame comparison enables compensating for, for example, telecine,interlacing, and/or duplicate video frames, to identify the mostaccurate match.

A number of different rules may be implemented to determine if anavigation point in the target video program is equivalent to a videoframe in the source video program and to select among the closeequivalent video frames in the set 531. For example, a seek navigationpoint in the target video program is deemed to be matched to a videoframe in the source video program if either only one of the frames inthe set is graded a seven or higher; or; if multiple frames are graded aseven of higher, only one frame in the set is graded a ten. If, forexample, neither of these conditions is met, then the matching processfailed to identify a suitable matched navigation point. In the event ofa match 531, the data of the matching frame number is associated withthe navigation point 532.

The existing art offers generalized image/visual recognition and imagecomparison methods and technologies, and determining rules that may beimplemented in a preferred embodiment as per the teachings herein. Byway of example, and not limitation, U.S. Pat. No. 8,150,165 discloses “Amethod for visual recognition of an object in an electronic imageincludes extracting unique points of an object to be learned and/or atarget object.” U.S. Pat. No. 8,374,387 discloses “A method and systemfor detection of video segments in compressed digital video streams ispresented. The compressed digital video stream is examine to determinesynchronization points, and the compressed video signal is analyzedfollowing detection of the synchronization points to create videofingerprints that are subsequently compared against a library of storedfingerprints.”

In those instances that a failed match is indicated 531, it isadvantageous that the navigation point data include diagnosticinformation indicating the type of failure 533. Diagnostic information533 includes the grading data, and any other data that may beadvantageous to retain. For example, one of the following terms may berecorded to indicate the quality of a successful match: “Perfect”,“Perfect-NearBy”, “Good” and “Ok”. These terms indicate that thenavigation point is associated with a synchronization frame withdifferent levels of confidence and accuracy. Most importantly, thediagnostic information 533 includes data relating to the nature of afailed match. For example, the synchronization comparison failed becausethe process either did not have enough time to seek to the pointallotted by the process, failed because of significant visualdifferences, or was unable to reach the seek area, usually due to itconflicting with a cell transition area. One of the following terms isrecorded to indicate the nature of a match failure: “Dup10s”, “Dup7s”,“BlackFrame”, “Error”, and “Bad-Seek”. The label “Dup” indicates a videoframe that is not sufficiently differentiated from a previous videoframe. The appended digits indicate the lack of differentiation. Thelabel “BlackFrame” indicates a video frame with very dark values thatrenders differentiation problematic. The label “Error” indicates acomplete mismatch. The label “Bad-Seek” indicates that a seek wasredirected to an incorrect location within the video.

The process of identifying an equivalent frame for each navigation pointin the target video program, is repeated with each next navigation point541, and begins with seeking to that navigation point 521. Once thisinitial cycle is completed, optionally, the matching process to thispoint may be repeated to enhance the accuracy of the results 542. Theinitial results may be affected by a variety of factors, including, forexample, processing resources available.

In one illustrative embodiment of the inventive methods and stepsdisclosed herein, a method comprises the steps of: (i) comparing a videoframe rate of one format of a video program (the source video program)to a video frame rate of another format of the video program (the targetvideo program) to generate a conversion factor between the source videoprogram and the target video program; (ii) retrieving a target videoframe from within the target video program; (iii) storing in a memory,as a bitmap, the target video frame; (iv) retrieving, responsive to alocation of the target video frame within the target video program, andresponsive to the conversion factor, each of a plurality of source videoframes from within the source video program; (v) storing in a memory, asa bitmap, each of the plurality of source video frames; (vi) determiningequivalence between the target video frame and each of the plurality ofsource video frames; the determining being responsive to a comparison ofbits of the bitmap of the target video frame and bits of the bitmap of asource video frame; and (vii) synchronizing, responsive to thedetermining, the target video frame and one of plurality of source videoframes, the synchronizing enabling a set of non-sequential videosegments of the target video program to be equivalent to a set ofnon-sequential video segments of the source video program.

In an alternate illustrative embodiment of the methods and stepsdisclosed herein, the method comprises the steps of: (i) comparing avideo frame rate of one format of a video program (the source videoprogram) to a video frame rate of another format of the video program(the target video program) to generate a conversion factor between thesource video program and the target video program; (ii) retrieving atarget video frame from within the target video program; (iii)retrieving, responsive to a location of the target video frame withinthe target video program, and responsive to the conversion factor, asource video frame from within the source video program; (iv)determining equivalence between the target video frame and the sourcevideo frame; the determining being responsive to an image comparisonbetween the target video frame and the source video frame; and (v)synchronizing, responsive to the determining, the target video frame andthe source video frame, the synchronizing enabling a set ofnon-sequential video segments of the target video program to beequivalent to a set of non-sequential video segments of the source videoprogram. These two examples suggest other possible embodiments resultingfrom the possible combinations, addition, deletion, and substitutions ofthe steps and/or elements.

Advantageously, if the matching process is repeated 542, to increaseefficiency, the navigation points to be processed may be reduced 543 to,for example, only those failures resulting from an Error” or “Bad-Seek”.Once the process of identifying equivalent frames is completed 541, thematching process is repeated if necessary 542, and if any failures areindicated 551, the diagnostic data is analyzed 552 to determine if anyof the failures should be corrected 553.

Attempting to fix Error and Bad-Seek situations should be carefullyevaluated as a correction could lead to false positives. For example,for videos that produce inconsistent failure patterns (e.g., failuresequences are more erratic), the fixes must be used sparingly as thereis potential for an inaccurate synchronization frame to be selected.Videos that produce reliable failure patterns lend themselves to higherconfidence fixes. Attempting to fix failures that resulted fromconflicts with a DVD-Video's Cell transition are also problematic.However, Dup and BlackFrame results indicate that a synchronizationframe was found, but it landed in an area of duplicate frames or was toodark for a match to be made. Dup and BlackFrame types of failures lendthemselves to being corrected 554.

The following is an example of a diagnostic data string for a matchednavigation point: “161,131,True,Perfect,128,-3” and an example of adiagnostic data string for a failed match navigation point:401,-2,False,BlackFrame,320. The first number in the data stringrepresents the navigation point. If the navigation point is matched, thesecond number in the data string, a positive number, represents theactual synchronization frame number. If the navigation point is notmatched, the second number, a negative number will indicate the type offailure. In the data of the navigation points, successful matches willhave a value of True, and failed matches will have a value of False. Asuccessful match will indicate the level of accuracy e.g., Perfect. Afailed match will describe the type of failure e.g., “Blackframe”. Theprevious to last number in a matched string and the last number of afailed string is the calculated synchronization frame based on takingthe navigation point and adjusting it by the conversion factor ormethodology. The last number in the matched string is the distancebetween the visually synchronized frame for matched navigation point andthe calculated frame, and is included for ease of analysis. The exampleof the coding and labeling above is exemplary, any diagnostic codingand/or labeling scheme and data format may be utilized.

The attempt to correct synchronization data 554 principally comprises ananalysis of the data 552, and therefore, while the task may be executedby a person, software routines may be implemented to resolve most of thefailures. Further, a person conducting the analysis of either the rawdata or the software routines fixes may be aided in the analysis byapplications that permit visual comparison and playbackcontrol/selection of individual frames in both sources. Clearly, as theframe factor generating methodologies and error correcting routines areenhanced, what is described herein as separate processes (e.g., framecomparison 523, the analysis of failure data 552 and correction of matchdata 554) may be advantageously combined to eliminate or greatly reducethe number of matching failures that may require analysis by a person.

An example of the analysis of the diagnostic data and correction offailed match follows with respect to BlackFrame failure. In such asituation, it is first determined the pattern of the distance betweenthe visually synchronized frame for the matched navigation point and thecalculated frame (i.e., the last number in the string). The followingexample exhibits a consistent pattern (i.e., −3):

146,119,True,Perfect,116,-3

161,131,True,Perfect,128,-3

176,143,True,Perfect,140,-3

191,155,True,Perfect,152,-3

206,167,True,Perfect,164,-3

221,179,True,Perfect,176,-3

236,191,True,Perfect,188,-3

251,203,True,Perfect,200,-3

This pattern indicates that the calculated frames are consistently 3frames less than the synchronized frames. Thus, this adjustment may beutilized to correct Blackframe and Dup failures within the video.

By contrast, the following example exhibits an inconsistent or erraticpattern for matched frames:

135,110,True,Perfect,108,-2

150,122,True,Perfect,120,-2

165,133,True,Perfect,132,-1

180,146,True,Perfect,144,-2

195,158,True,Perfect,156,-2

210,168,True,Perfect,168,0

225,181,True,Perfect,180,-1

This pattern indicates that the calculated frames are 0 to 2 frames lessthan the synchronized frames, and thus a video exhibiting this type ofpattern renders error correction more difficult.

Returning to FIG. 5, fixing the synchronization data of a navigationpoint 554 involves associating the navigation point with an appropriatematching frame (changing the second number to a positive number),replacing the failed False designation with a value of True, andappending a number representing the adjustment of the calculated frameto the actual synchronized frame. The following is an example of thepreviously described failed navigation point data string:“401,-2,False,BlackFrame,320”, and the now corrected data string:“401,323,True,BlackFrame,320,-3”. The process of analyzing diagnosticdata 552, determining if the failure is correctable 553, and, ifappropriate, correcting the match data 554 is performed for everynavigation point for which a matching frame was not identified 531.

Once the corrections that can be made are made, the data is utilized togenerate the seek/step data 561 that synchronizes the map, created for amovie in one video format, to that movie in a different video format. Inthe illustrated example of the data string:“401,323,True,BlackFrame,320,-3”, the first number in the string (i.e.,401) represents a navigation point in the seek/step data. The secondnumber (i.e., 323) represents a row in the seek/step data.

In one embodiment, the synchronization is performed with the seek/stepdata while the map segment definitions remain constant. That is, asingle map is synchronized to multiple formats of a video by means oftheir respective seek/step data. Alternatively, the definitions in a mapare themselves synchronized to a particular format of a video or to aset of equivalent formats of the video.

The synchronization methods and steps disclosed herein are not limitedto different video format of the same movie. The methods and steps areapplicable to multiple versions of the same movie, and to permutationsof multiple versions and different video formats. Such synchronizationsrequire additional steps to account for, for example, parallel,transitional, and overlapping segments that define the distinctionsbetween multiple versions of a movie. For example, the image comparisonmay be extended for a substantial number of consecutive frames toidentify content gaps in one format versus the other. The frame wheresynchronization begins to fail and the frame where synchronizationresumes, if they are separated by some material number of frames,defines a segment included in one format/version of the video andexcluded in another format/version of the video. In those situations,the synchronization diagnostic information identifies a video segmentincluded in the one format of a video program and excluded in theanother format of the video program. Further, while multiple versions ofa movie released on DVD-Video are rare and usually limited to twoversions, none of the methods disclosed herein are limited in theirapplicability to only two versions, the number of video formats, and/orthe video delivery platform, e.g., DVD-Video and download.

In one illustrative embodiment of the inventive methods and stepsdisclosed herein, a method comprises the steps of: (i) comparing a videoframe rate of one format of a video program (the source video program)to a video frame rate of another format of the video program (the targetvideo program) to generate a conversion factor between the source videoprogram and the target video program; (ii) retrieving a target videoframe from within the target video program; (iii) storing in a memory,as a bitmap, the target video frame; (iv) retrieving, responsive to alocation of the target video frame within the target video program, andresponsive to the conversion factor, each of a plurality of source videoframes from within the source video program; (v) storing in a memory, asa bitmap, each of the plurality of source video frames; (vi) determiningequivalence between the target video frame and each of the plurality ofsource video frames; the determining being responsive to a comparison ofbits of the bitmap of the target video frame and bits of the bitmap of asource video frame; (vii) generating, responsive to the determining ofequivalence, synchronization diagnostic information; and (viii)synchronizing, responsive to an analysis of the synchronizationdiagnostic information, the target video frame and one of plurality ofsource video frames, the synchronizing enabling a set of non-sequentialvideo segments of the target video program to be equivalent to a set ofnon-sequential video segments of the source video program.

In an alternate illustrative embodiment of the methods and stepsdisclosed herein, the method comprises the steps of: (i) comparing avideo frame rate of one format of a video program (the source videoprogram) to a video frame rate of another format of the video program(the target video program) to generate a conversion factor between thesource video program and the target video program; (ii) retrieving atarget video frame from within the target video program; (iii)retrieving, responsive to a location of the target video frame withinthe target video program, and responsive to the conversion factor, asource video frame from within the source video program; (iv)determining equivalence between the target video frame and the sourcevideo frame, the determining being responsive to an image comparisonbetween the target video frame and the source video frame; (v)generating, responsive to the determining of equivalence,synchronization diagnostic information; and (vi) synchronizing,responsive to an analysis of the synchronization diagnostic information,the target video frame and the source video frame. These two examplessuggest other possible embodiments resulting from the possiblecombinations, addition, deletion, and substitutions of the steps and/orelements.

Multi-Navigators

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method utilizing a plurality of videoplayback navigators to provide for discreet begin video frame play andto seamlessly play non-sequential segments from within a digitallyencoded video. Upon running the application software, a navigator isinitialized 601 and, if present, a DVD, is initialized 602. The objectof initializing the navigator is to retrieve an identifier 603 of themovie. In the case of a DVD-Video, this identifier 603 would be a DiscID. The Disc ID is a generated identifier that is unique to a DVD-Video.The identifier 603 is utilized to search the player's set of locallyavailable maps or map database 611. If the map is not found to belocally available 611, the map may be available at a location remote tothe player 612, and downloaded from the remote location 613. Thedownloading of a map may require additional pre-processing such asmerging with the local map database 613. In the event that a map of themovie is neither locally available 611, nor remotely available 612, thenconventional video playback features are made available 614. In the caseof a DVD-Video, conventional features would include access to themovie's associated menus and features, and the DVD-Video would be playedin a conventional manner.

In order to facilitate access to the movie by multiple navigators, abookmark is generated to enable a subsequently initialized navigator toautomatically skip to the beginning of the movie. If a previouslygenerated bookmark is available 620, then the bookmark is retrieved 628.If a previously generated bookmark is not available 620, then thevideo's navigation data is retrieved 621 to enable the user to navigate622 the menus, previews, and other content that precedes the movie. Whenthe desired title is selected a bookmark is generated 623 by the userand/or the application.

Once the bookmark is obtained, the available and/or desired navigatorsare initialized 629. The Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 with the Nvidia Driverversion 310.90 for Windows 7 64-bit has been found to generally providefor running eight simultaneous instances of the Microsoft DVD Navigator.The map of the movie is queried to retrieve feature and otherinformation available for the movie 630 to display in the player's UIthe available features for the movie 631. A navigator may be used toretrieve images from within the video to display in the UI. The user'spreferences that are obtained 632 identify the user's presentationpreference for a feature enabled by the map. The user's preferences 632,causes the generation of a playlist of the appropriate segments of themovie 633. The playlist 633 would be responsive to segments depictingcontent consistent with the user presentation preference, and beresponsive to the user's content preferences. As the playlist isgenerated 633, the seek/step data is retrieved 634. If there is norequest by the user in response to the display of features 631, then theapplication will behave in a conventional manner, e.g., sleep, or, aftersome extended period of time, close.

A first navigator is utilized to seek to a navigation point 641corresponding to the beginning of a first segment in the playlist, tostep to the begin frame of the segment 642, and pause and cue theplaying from that play position 643. While the navigator “plays” thevideo from the navigation point, and is caused to step through frames atan accelerated rate to and including the begin frame of the segment, thevideo is hidden (i.e., not displayed) and the audio is muted so as tonot be perceived by the user. This non-displayed “play” is referred toas seek, step, and cue. A number of parameters may be evaluated todetermine if playing of the segment proceeds at this point 644 or if anadditional navigator should be caused to seek 641, step 642, and cue 643a next segment in the playlist. For example, if the first segment is ofsufficient duration, the playlist would be deemed ready to be played644, the segment would be played 651, and there would be no need toextend the display of the initialization message 645.

While the segment is played 651, if a navigator is available 652, thenthat navigator 660 may be utilized to seek to the navigation point 661of a next not cued segment in the playlist, step to the begin frame 662,and pause and cue the playing from that play position 663 (i.e., thebegin frame of the segment). A navigator becomes available when it hascompleted playback of a segment. During a playing of a segment 651multiple navigators may be caused to seek 661, step 662, and cue 663.Optimally, multiple navigators are cued ready to play non-sequentialsegments. However, a navigator's background seek 661, step 662, and cue663 activity is preempted, slowed, or paused so as to not interfere withthe proper playing of a current segment 651 or the synchronization ofthe playing from one segment to the playing of another segment. Anavigator's background seek 661, step 662, and cue 663 activity may beslowed to, for example, 24 frames per second during another navigator'splaying of a segment. Further, a navigator's background seek 661, step662, and cue 663 activity may be preempted or paused during anothernavigator's nearing playing the end of a segment. The playing of asegment 651 is not intended to be interrupted by the background processof determining if a navigator is available 652 and utilizing theavailable navigator 660. Thus whether a navigator is available or not(YES/NO) 652, the playing of a segment 651 is continued until completed653.

The duration of the playing of a segment is calculated by using thedifference in the begin frames and end frames that define a segment.When a playing of a segment is completed 653, if there is anothersegment to be played 654, and the segment is ready to be played 644(i.e., a navigator has completed an initial seek 641, step 642, and cue643, or a subsequent seek 661, step 662, and cue 663 of a yet to beplayed segment) then the appropriate navigator is caused to beginplaying a segment 651 responsive to the playlist and the seek/step data.The switching from the playing of a segment by one navigator to theplaying of a next segment in the playlist by a different navigator istime synchronized as to appear at least technically seamless to a user.The devices real-time clock provides the required timing to switchbetween navigators for a seamless transition between non-sequentialsegments. Sometimes the playing of non-sequential segment (i.e., theskipping of content) while technically seamless, may not appearartistically seamless to a user. Such outcomes are sometimes thenecessary tradeoff in skipping the playing of objectionable content. Anumber of editing techniques, such as dissolves, fades, and wipes, maybe conventionally implemented during the transition from the playing ofone segment to the playing of a next segment. Cross fading of audio isparticularly useful in enhancing the visual perception of seamlessness.

There are instances that, because of a sequence of segments that areeach very short in duration, there is no sufficient time to permit anavigator 660 to execute a seek 661, step 662, and cue 663 prior to thecompletion of the playing of a last cued segment. That is, there wouldnot be a next segment ready to be played seamlessly 644. At that moment,an initialization message is displayed 645, while a seek 641, step 642,and cue 643 process is restarted.

The flow charts herein detailed are intentionally drafted to disclose anumber of possible embodiments. A number of permutations, combinations,deletions, and reordering in the specific steps are possible and will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Further, recursive functions maybe performed and/or initiated at different points in the process thanthose illustrated or detailed. Further, as the disclosure suggests,additional elements (e.g., editing techniques) may be synergisticallyimplemented in one of many possible embodiments.

In one illustrative embodiment of the inventive methods and stepsdisclosed herein, a method comprises the steps of: (i) retrievingsegment information defining a begin video frame and an end video frameof each of a plurality of video segments within the video, the segmentinformation enabling, responsive to a user's content preferences, of aplaying of a presentation of the video less in length than the length ofthe video, the presentation seamlessly skipping a playing of a videosegment within the video; (ii) retrieving seek/step data identifying,for each of a plurality of video frames within the video, a navigationpoint and a number of video frames that are required to step to a videoframe; (iii) utilizing the seek/step data and a first navigator to seekto a navigation point appropriate to a begin video frame of a firstvideo segment, to step to the begin video frame of the one videosegment, and to cue a playing at the begin video frame of the firstvideo segment; (iv) utilizing the seek/step data and a second navigatorto seek to a navigation point appropriate to a begin video frame of anon-sequential video segment, step to the begin video frame of thenon-sequential video segment, and cue a playing at the begin video frameof the non-sequential video segment; (v) utilizing the first navigatorto enable a playing of the first video segment; and (vi) synchronizingthe second navigator to enable a playing of the non-sequential videosegment seamlessly following the playing of the first video segment.

In an alternate illustrative embodiment of the methods and stepsdisclosed herein, the method comprises the steps of: (i) retrievingsegment information defining a begin video frame and an end video frameof each of a plurality of video segments within the video; (ii)utilizing a first navigator to seek to a navigation point appropriate toa begin video frame of a first video segment, to step to the begin videoframe of the one video segment, and to cue a playing at the begin videoframe of the one video segment; (iii) utilizing a second navigator toseek to a navigation point appropriate to a begin video frame of anon-sequential video segment, step to the begin video frame of thenon-sequential video segment, and cue a playing at the begin video frameof the non-sequential video segment; (iv) utilizing the first navigatorto enable a playing of the first video segment; and (v) synchronizingthe second navigator to enable a playing of the non-sequential videosegment seamlessly following the playing of the first video segment.These examples suggest other possible embodiments resulting from thepossible combinations, addition, deletion, and substitutions of thesteps and/or elements.

Specifically, in the illustrative embodiments, and in general herein,the terms “first” and “second” are utilized to differentiate one elementfrom another element, and not to indicate position or order. In otherwords, a “first video segment” is not necessarily the first videosegment in a movie. A “first video segment” may be a non-sequentialvideo segment that begins at, for example, 25 minutes into the movie. Inthe above illustrative embodiment, the “first video segment” may in factbe the last segment in the movie and the non-sequential video segmentwould be a video segment “grafted” from an earlier place in the movie.Similarly, the terms “first navigator” and “second navigator” areutilized to differentiate different instances of the same navigator. Ofcourse, a “first navigator” and “second navigator” could be differentnavigators having different capabilities. For example, one navigatorcould be used just to seek to I-frames. Further, in a videobaseembodiment (e.g., multiple DVD-Videos stored in a carousel, or multiplevideos stored in a solid state drive), multiple navigators may beadvantageously utilized to facilitate the seamless playback of videosegments retrieved from within a plurality of videos.

For the sake of simplicity, the flow chart of FIG. 6 does not explicitlyaddress the additional steps that may be required to accommodateDVD-Videos, and the like, that include multiple versions of a video. Forexample, a DVD-Video for the motion picture “Ted” offers the theatricalreleased version (Title 1 with a length of 1 hour and 46 minutes) and anunrated version (Title 2 with a length of 1 hour and 52 minutes).Although not required, a single map or multiple maps may provide theinformation for each of the versions. In those instances, the necessarynavigation data is retrieved from the video and/or the map and the useris provided the option to indicate a version preference for one or theother version and in some instances both versions (e.g., keyword Searchfeature). In the case of Ted, since the unrated version provides moreexplicit content than the theatrical release, and given the contentcustomization capabilities of the Control feature, the map onlyaddresses the unrated version. In those instances in which a variablecontent video provides materially alternative content, then a single mapor multiple maps would advantageously provide the information for eachof the versions, and the user would be presented the version options toindicate a version preference.

Multimedia Player

Preferred embodiments of the various inventive elements disclosed hereinutilize a player comprising synergistically integrated random access andcommunications capabilities. The player comprises the various functions,capabilities and components of a variety of consumer electronic systemsincluding, for example, an optical player and a gaming system, e.g.,Sony PlayStation 3; a video recorder, e.g., 300-hr TiVo® Series3™ HDDigital Media Recorder; a set-top box capable of retrievingvideo-on-demand services from a remote video services provider, e.g., aScientific Atlanta Explorer 8000; a multimedia computing device, e.g., adesktop computer with, for example, a 16X DVD drive; and a full-featuredediting system, e.g., Avid Xpress Pro. The teachings of such devices areincorporated herein by reference.

A player permits a user to obtain videos, multimedia, and other servicesfrom storage means within the player, sources locally accessible, and/orfrom a remote services provider. Additionally, the player, as per thevarious inventions detailed herein, comprises the means and operationalmethods of, for example, (i) customizing a playing of a motion picturestored in an optical readable disc; (ii) time shifting and customizingthe playing of a motion picture obtained from, for example, a DBStransmission; (iii) integrating communications (e.g. phone answering)with a playing (e.g. auto-replay) of a motion picture; and (iv)auto-configuring a host player.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a multi-featured player 700 comprisingthe following primary modules and subsystems: i) random accessvideo/data disc module (e.g. a multi-disc optical read/write drive) 701;ii) communications module 702; iii) fixed storage subsystem 703; iv)removable storage subsystem 704; v) compact portable storage subsystem705; vi) external video/audio input/output support module 706; vii)multi-user modules 707; and viii) multi-services modules 708.

The communications module 702 may be as simple as a modem card ordevice, or as sophisticated as may be required by a direct fiber opticaccess to a remote video and communication services provider. Thecommunications module may support a plurality and variety of wired andwireless connections to access a variety of networks. Additionally, thecommunications module may support a plurality of competing broadcastsand on-demand video delivery systems. In this fashion by merelydepressing the appropriate keys in a remote control device a user caneasily switch between off the air transmissions and on-line services. Bythis method a video services provider can satisfy a wide range of videorequirements without necessarily utilizing video-on-demand systemcapacity. In such instances a player may be connected to a localreceiving means. The receiving means may be, for example, an indoorantenna, an outdoor antenna, an existing system, such as the electricalsystem, that may serve as an antenna, or a local media server.

The fixed memory subsystem 703 refers to any nonvolatile memory storagedevice principally utilized to randomly read/write and store significantquantities of information. An example of a fixed memory storagesubsystem is a personal computer's hard disk drive (HDD) and asolid-state drive (SDD).

The removable memory subsystem 704 refers to any nonvolatile memorystorage device principally utilized to transport information to and fromtwo similarly equipped devices. Examples of removable memory storagesubsystems are electronic memories and removable hard disks. Electronicmemories comprise, for example, USB flash drives. The random access discmodule 701 is another example of a removable storage subsystem.

The compact portable storage subsystem 705 and user access media 744 isprincipally distinguished from a removable storage subsystem 704 by thesize of the media and the greater variety of memory storage technologiesthat are generally implemented. Nonetheless, some of the removablestorage media, such as for example a flash drive, are also considereduser access media 744. Examples of other removable storage media anduser access media are: laser read/write cards, in which at least onesurface of the card permits a laser to read/write information;electronic cards, in which the information is stored in electroniccomponents; magnetic cards and drives embodying magnetic storagetechnology, electronic memories and cartridges.

Clearly, a variety of memory devices are available utilizingtechnologies and combinations of technologies to suit particularperformance requirements. The above classifications of the memorydevices are directed at bringing attention to functional capabilities ofa player rather than to a particular technology. The classifications arenot intended to restrict a subsystem to a particular classification,limit the selection of subsystems which may be implemented, or to limitthe function of the particular subsystem implemented.

It is intended that a full featured player additionally “play” a varietyof laser readable media, such as, Blu-rays, DVDs, CDs, photo CDs, andinteractive videos and games, in a conventional manner. The wide rangeof video/data discs that may be accommodated and the variousconfigurations are diagrammatically emphasized in FIG. 7 as the fivestacked circles and the five circles inside the representation of thevideo/data disc unit 701.

The external video/audio input/output support module 706 supportsvideo/audio/data transmission to the primary video display systemcomprising, for example, a monitor/television, stereo system, andkeyboard/voice recognition-response. Additionally, the input/outputmodule supports video/audio input from local sources such as for examplevideo cameras, and videophones. The construction of the external supportmodule follows the conventional practices of consumer electronicproducts as for example: optical disc players, recorders, and personalcomputers.

Multi-user modules 707 principally support separate controlledindependent access by other users of the player's processing, video, andcommunications resources. The construction of multi-user modulesfollowing established networking technologies.

In a preferred embodiment, instead of utilizing one of the Windowsoperating systems, the player will incorporate a small footprintmulti-user multitasking real-time operating system with a streamlineduser interface patterned after, for example, the simpler interface of acable receiver. A multi-layer approach to the functionality/complexityof such functions as surfing the net; contact management and email,optical disc/internet hybrid games, applications and services; videoediting; multimedia and word processing; and portfolio management andbanking, are made available at a streamlined level that providesfunctionality required by most users at a markedly reduced level ofcomplexity.

Multi-services modules 708 provide a host of services, such as forexample residential security, and appliance operation management. Theoperation of the module being principally a software application runningunder the multi-user operating system implemented. The construction ofthe particular multi-service module is responsive to the particularapplication.

The player further comprises computing elements and video processingelements readily found in multimedia devices and video electronicsystems such as, for example, and not limitation, microprocessor 711,memory units 712, video processor or digital signal processor 713,video, audio, and data buffers 714, and nonvolatile memory 715. Thevideo audio module or board 706 and the video processor 713 comprisecompression-decompression technologies to both retrieve and decompressvideos and compress and transmit videos. The compression technologiesmay include hardware, firmware, software, or any combination of these.One or a plurality of existing and forthcoming video compression methodsmay be implemented such as: Motion-JPEG, MPEG 1, MPEG 2, Fractals,Wavelets, and MPEG 4.

A player's control programs that manage the player's resources, and theretrieval and processing of data and video information, reside indedicated chips 721. Alternatively, or additionally, control programsare stored in mass memory devices 703 from installed or downloadedsoftware, in removable memory media 704, or in a user access media 744.

A player's user control interface 731 includes communications to thebuttons and keys located on the cabinet of the device, and to theassociated control devices 741-742-743. The keys, buttons, and switches,conventionally found in consumer electronic systems and deemedadvantageous to the operation of the player may also be implemented.These controls are further augmented by a plurality of functioncomprising: segment skipping control, magnification controls, contentpreferences control, video map control, and system menu control. Theuser control interface 731 additionally supports infrared and/or RFremote control units 741, e.g., numeric control pad, keyboard with atouchpad, and game controller; wire connected control units 742, e.g.,cable connected computer keyboard, mouse, and game controller; a voicerecognition unit 743; and touch-screen capability. A remote control 741may also include any device, such as a smart phone or pad, that may besynergistically integrated to support functions and features disclosedand/or incorporated herein by reference.

The keyboard, similar to a personal computer implementation, facilitatessystem setup, keyword retrieval, and system functions requiring theentry of alpha characters. Since a preferred configuration of a playercomprises significant multimedia capabilities, a keyboard pointing meansis advantageous. A keyboard connector used to connect a standard ATkeyboard or a dedicated keyboard is supplied. Alternatively, aninfrared-based or radio-based keyboard is implemented. Further, giventhe computing and storage capabilities of the player, a voice responsesubsystem option accommodating at least the few commands, such as play,stop, mute, audio, skip, required to control the basic operations canadditionally be provided. The sophistication of the voice recognitioncapability can be enhanced as the hardware/software configuration of theplayer advances within mass market price points.

Implemented in the player is a digital system status display subsystem732, which provides visual feedback and system status informationsimilar to the implementations in video playback devices.

In general, parts, subassemblies, and components of a player are ofconventional characteristics and are freely substituted by likefunctioning elements and components. For example, and not limitation,while fiber optic-based communications are preferred, copper phone linesand coaxial cable-based communications are considered less capablefunctional equivalents. Additionally, a certain degree of redundancy ofcomponents is illustrated in FIG. 7 to schematically show and detailsignificant functions.

Clearly, redundant components, in general, and redundant electroniccomponents, in particular, are intended to be eliminated in a preferredembodiment. For example, while a player may include a removable memorysubsystem and a compact memory subsystem, one may be the functionalequivalent of the other, and one or the other may be eliminated. Ingeneral, where cost effective, components are designed to serve acombination of functions.

Further, the configuration of the player's various modules, components,and subsystems, are intended to offer flexibility analogous to thatfound in a personal computer. Specifically with respect to themulti-user capabilities, a player may be configured, for example, withmore than one optical module, whether inside the primary cabinet or in amating or sister cabinet. Various embodiments of players do not includeall, or even most, of the means, and/or capabilities detailed herein.The particular configuration of a player is responsive to the particularfunctions or features desired.

Responsive to user friendliness, a more advanced wireless plug and playcommunications and power motherboard and cabinet design is preferred.The motherboard and cabinet would permit the replacement of, forexample, the power supply 709 just as easily as a battery is replaced ina portable personal computer. In a preferred embodiment of a player,every component and subsystem is added or replaced without resorting toscrewdrivers and the need to unplug and plug communications and powercables.

Generally, in, for example, an optical disc implementation, the entirevariable content video (video/audio and video map) is provided in aformat similar to that required by the video images contained in thedisc. Specifically, in a DVD implementation, the video map is includedin a digital format and the video content is included in a digitalcompressed format in one or more spiral tracks. A video map may beprovided with, or separate from, the video's video and audio data. Forexample, a DVD may comprise, as part of its manufacturing, a prerecordedvideo and a corresponding video map whether separate from video framesor interleaved among video frames. Clearly, the playing of a DVD is nottechnically limited to the manner prescribed by the widely accepted DVDspecifications.

Alternatively, the video map and other data may be separately providedby a removable memory media, user access media, or downloaded by meansof the communications interface. For example, a player simply configuredand comprising, a DVD drive and a flash drive or modem provides editingand retrieval benefits for DVDs storing a conventional linear video.Additionally, the drive may serve to store a user's generalized or videospecific video content preferences. Conventional linear video programsprovide a library of motion pictures to which the teachings herein maybe applied.

In those instances where the authoring of the video did not include theproduction of a video map, the map may be retrieved from a source, e.g.,a web site, other than the source of the video, e.g. an optical drive ora remote video provider. In this embodiment, a video map, user interfaceand other control programs particular to the motion picture may bedownloaded by the internet from a remote map server or other player.Upon a playing of a video, the control program causes the reading of thevideo's identifier from the video source 701, searches the mass memoryfixed storage device 703 for a video map and if not availablecommunicates with an external source to download the appropriate map.

With respect to control programs, scheduling routines, user preferences,video map, and other principally software elements, it is noted thatthese may be separately or jointly stored in any one of a player'svarious firmware/hardware memory devices. For example, the user'scontent preferences are stored in nonvolatile resident memory 715, inthe memory of the fixed or removable memory subsystem 703/704, a user'soptical read/write access card or electronic memory card 744, or fromthe respective read/write video/data disc 701. In an interactive videogame application, data, in general, and game software, in particular,for example, may be downloaded to the hard disk, reserving subsequentaccess of the optical disc for video/audio retrieval. A player'sprocessing of the control programs 721 is principally a function of thesystem CPU 711 and system RAM 712.

Networks

A video, segment information, play routines specific to the video, andcontrol codes for automatically configuring or controlling the functionsof the player may be provided by means of a variety of existing andevolving technologies. In addition to the hard formats such as tape,optical disc, optical/magnetic disk, memory chips and modules (e.g. RAM,DRAM, high capacity flash memory, bubble memory); a video may beprovided by soft formats that may be implemented in a variety ofcommunications networks utilizing, for example, analog or digital cabletransmissions, fiber optic transmission, phone and satellitecommunications. A player need not be physically accessible by a user orbe physically located near a display device or a television set. Theplayer may provide a user access to remote video resources and mayitself be remotely controlled by the user. Fiber optic and coaxialcommunications easily permit the required transfer rates over longdistances between controllers, players, other video sources anddisplays.

It is within a network-based implementation, that the various advantagesand capabilities of the preferred embodiments are realized with respectto the specific hardware technologies and architectures of an underlyingvideo delivery system.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a video provider and end user networkarchitecture in which participants in the network 800 comprise anynumber of video providers 811-813, and any number of end users 831-836.Participants in the network 800, however, whether classified as videoproviders 811-813 or end users 831-836 are both providers and end usersof video services. Analogous to a communications network, eachparticipant is able to retrieve and transmit video/data from any otherparticipant. An example is the “YouTube” free online video streamingservice that allows users to view and share videos that have beenuploaded by other users.

A video-on-demand system, in general, a content-on-demand system, thedelivery of variable content video services, and the delivery of videomaps in particular, are herein intended to be deployable by a variety ofpossible networks and player configurations. FIG. 8 suggests a pluralityof network infrastructures that may be implemented. Shown are wired andnon-wired video transmission infrastructures based on, for example, theuse of one or a hybrid combination of the following: fiber optic 801,coaxial cable 802, twisted copper wire 803, microwave, radio WIFI, orBluetooth 804, and satellite 805.

Each participant in the network obtains a hardware configurationconsistent with their desire and objectives, and their financialresources. The video system of a participant who wishes to serve as avideo provider 811-813 is functionally equivalent to the playerpreviously detailed with respect to FIG. 7, differing only in that therespective resources are appropriately scaled and modified tosimultaneously access a variety of videos, and service a number of endusers. Both an end user's player 831 and a nonlinear editing system 871are in fact video servers. A video server of a video services provideris distinguished principally by the significantly greater video storagecapacity and the number of video streams it can service.

A video provider system, for example 811, comprises: i) communicationstechnologies 821 for establishing a plurality of video andcommunications streams to a plurality of players 831-836 to enable theuploading and/or downloading of information, data and/or video content,such as segments and videos; ii) processing hardware and software 822for retrieving from a player an end user's video preferences, contentpreferences, search terms and search requests, and for processing theuser's video preferences, content preferences, search terms and searchrequests. e.g., performing searches of segment data to identify thesegments or list of segments responsive to a users search terms andsearch requests; iii) mass storage random access memory devices 823 forstoring and retrieving video maps (e.g., segment data), and/or avideobase comprising a plurality of any combination of video segments,motion pictures, conventional programs, interactive games and services,and variable content videos; and iv) processing hardware and software824 for maintaining accounting and support services in connection withvideo services provided.

Simply stated, a variable content video provider system 811-813comprises a video server and the video server software being enhanced todeliver variable content video services.

Video providers may be further categorized according to the functionsserved and/or the extent and character of the data and videobasemaintained. Central video services providers 811 may be capable ofproviding a greater variety of video services than for example regionalor local services providers 813. Regional or local services providers813, however may be the source of local interest video services such asare currently broadcast by local television stations. Other videoservices providers 812 may act as “libraries” for specialized categoriesof videos, as for example an historical video archive of governmentproceedings; or services as for example electronics shopping. Theinternet architecture and the different classes of web sites issuggestive of the wide range of multimedia configurations that arepossible.

A user's access to the resources of a video services provider 811-813need not be direct. A requested video may be downloaded, in real time ornon-real-time, to a services provider that may be more economicallyaccessible to the intended user. Within the network, some video servicesprovider may not directly provide any services to users, but act ascentralized video originators or depositories for other servicesproviders.

The video server's mass storage random access memory devices 823 forstoring a plurality of variable content videos may advantageouslyimplement a multiple-read/write head architecture. This would alsofacilitate the simultaneous retrieval of several versions of a videofrom a single video source to satisfy simultaneously the particularviewing requirements of several end users. A multiple-read-headarchitecture reduces, for example, the number of copies of a video thatthe on-line video server may need to store.

In this context it is also noted that the mass storage devices mayadditionally implement stripping methods to store a video across severalstorage devices. Where cost effective, a variable content video may beentirely or partially stored in RAM.

The particular configuration of a player's random access, storage,memory, processing, and communication means and capabilities areresponsive to, but are not necessarily limited by, the minimumrequirements of, for example, a particular service provider. A playerconfiguration, such as detailed with respect to FIG. 7, provides therequired video accessing and storage, processing, and communicationsarchitecture required by a network-based remote video services provider.

The player's multi-user and multi-services modules support separatecontrolled independent access by a plurality of users of the player'sprocessing, video, and communications resources. In addition to theprimary video display system 851 supported by a player 831, themulti-user module and multi-services module installed also providesservices to a monitor/keyboard 852, security system 853, personalmultimedia computer 856, voice and/or video/voice telephones 855. Inthis fashion a player acts an intermediate services provider.

The particular location of the player, subsystems, or components,whether within the immediate boundaries of a residence, automobile, orthe particular location of the end user, are not limited herein to anyparticular arrangement. A variety of configurations are possible to meetthe various needs at any particular time of the end user. In a preferredembodiment a player is similar in size and weigh to a super thinportable notebook computer. This permits a user to have available all ofthe functions herein detailed irrespective of the user's particularlocation at any moment in time.

In commercial applications, such as a theater, a player 836 may supporta high definition projector 859. For illustration purposes, connectionsbetween players and output devices are shown with lines. However,communications may be established by any of a variety of wired orwireless means. Thus, a player 731 need not be directly or indirectlyconnected by wire to the devices 851-859, 861-862. Further, devices851-859, 861-862 may be connected to a communications port 841-843 whichis in communications with the player 831. The communications port may beof varying degrees of intelligence and capabilities, it may serve toboost or manage the signal, or have no other purpose than to serve as aconvenient outlet in which to plug and unplug devices.

In an embodiment as shown in FIG. 8, a location will be “wired” or“networked” to enable a self configuring player to identify andestablish a communications with other devices in the network.Additionally, player modules may themselves be physically distributedover the network. The plug and play of modules across a networkarchitecture permits, for example, that the video disc module bephysically remote from a player's 831 main unit and plugged on a port842 near the television 851. In this instance, the case 857 housing thevideo disc module also houses a compact storage module. Thus, a singlevideo disc module can be easily moved from one location 842 to anotherlocation 843 when physical proximity is required to conveniently replacediscs. It is noted that while the disc module case 857 is connected to afirst port 842, it would be remotely accessible to a terminal 856plugged into a second port 843.

FIG. 8 also shows, for example, the use of a separate compact portablestorage subsystem 881 and a user access media 882 to physicallytransport user data, video map, and/or video between players 831-832.

A player's core components may be located anywhere inside or outside thelocation. Specially, where a player includes fans and disk drives, thetop of the TV set would not be an ideal location.

As detailed previously, the user's control of a player is either throughan infrared control keypad, wired or infrared alphanumeric controlkeyboard, voice control, or system controls directly on the player.These controls may be directly incorporated in the devices accessing theplayer such as a TV.

The novel combination of an external fiber optic based communicationsmodule and a multiple read/write storage module, provides a playerconfiguration capable of efficiently downloading significant amounts offull motion video to be viewed, played with, or processed at the enduser's leisure. In such a player, the downloading of, for example, afeature length motion picture, an interactive video game, or a series oflectures can be achieved with unprecedented speed.

As suggested earlier, an object of FIG. 8 is to convey the concept thatan end user's player 831-836 and an editing system 871 can both uploadand download video and video maps through the network directly to otherend users 831-836, editing systems 871, and/or to the video servers ofvideos services providers 811-813.

A player may be configured to duplicate the functions of a nonlinearediting system as previously detailed. Both the player 831 and theediting system 871 are capable of receiving input from other sourcessuch as a digital video camera 861 and digital video recorder 862 (e.g.,TiVo Premiere XL4 DVR). As is the case with player 831, the editingsystem 871 is capable of outputting video to, for example, a TV 851 andto a PC 854.

As indicated previously, a player can accommodate a plurality ofcompression and decompression technologies to both retrieve anddecompress videos and compress and transmit videos through the network.Preferably, a specific video originating at a digital camera 861,downloaded to a nonlinear editing system 871, transmitted over thenetwork 800 to a video server for retransmission over the network 800 toa player 831 will utilize a single compression technology to avoidcompounding the effects of artifacts that may be introduced by aparticular compression technology. Clearly, where the decompressiontechnology resides completely in software, the video itself couldprovide the required decompression software.

As indicated above, variable content video services can be delivered bymeans of any of a number of non-wired based video delivery systems. Forexample, microwave technologies may provide two way video servicesincluding movies-on-demand. The network uses a series of transmitters804, each of which is capable of broadcasting a digital signal. Endusers utilize an antenna 864 to receive the signal. The antenna 864 isconnected to a decoder connected to a TV set. In an embodiment, a player834 performs the processing and decoding functions required fortransmission to a video display.

In a preferred embodiment of a cellular-like system, a video provider'scell site 813 comprises microwave communications, video server, andprocessing systems for establishing a plurality of video andcommunications streams to a plurality of players 831-836.

Video Provider

A player's capability to download videos from a remote video providerpermits an end user to efficiently obtain, from an extensive videobase,a video(s), segment(s) of a video, and/or segment(s) from each of aplurality of videos, to be viewed at the time of the user's choosing,over which the user exercises complete control as to the subject matter,form of expression, and other elements comprising the video. Further,the resulting video need not comprise or result from a single videobase.A video may result from the automated selection of a variety ofsegments/videos from one or a plurality of videobases.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart detailing a method of variably playing a videoobtained from a remote video provider. It is noted that handshaking andother routines are flexible and user configurable and a number ofpermutations and variations of what is detailed are possible. Inoperation, a player normally provides a variety of communication andbackground services and is, therefore, ready to respond to an usercommand 901. Upon receipt of a user command, the player provides powerto a display unit (TV) if necessary, and transmits an appropriateacknowledgment 902. Access routines are enabled to determine if a user'saccess is permitted 903. In a preferred embodiment, these routinesreside within the player and are executed prior to establishing acommunications linkage with either a network administrator or directlywith a video services provider. If access is denied 903, an errormessage 904 is provided to the display and the player is returned to thestate prior to the user active request. Delay routines may beimplemented to provide the user the opportunity to attempt to obtainaccess without a player going to “sleep”.

If access is permitted 903, retrieval routines are enabled 905 to permitthe remote retrieval of a video. It is noted that in the case of thevideo dial-tone model, there may be a multistage retrieval routine 910when the user first establishes communications with the networkadministrator 911, for example a cable or telephone company, thenselects a particular video services provider 912, and then request thedesired video 920. Alternatively, retrieval routines 914 permit a directselection of a video services provider 912. Video selection 920 thenproceeds on-line with the selected video provider. A video servicesprovider can be pre-established. In that case, the user would skiphaving to select a services provider immediately prior to a videorequest. Further, a user may establish relationships with specific videoproviders for specified services. Still further, the video selectionprocess 921 itself may determine with which provider a communicationslinkage is automatically established 922. The result of the videoselection process is automatically transferred 923 to the appropriateprovider upon the establishment of a communications linkage. Clearly,the selection of a video services provider is not required in thoseinstances where a user obtains all the services from a single provider.It is noted that other combinations are possible and that retrievalroutines may reside within a player to further minimize the on-linetime, or be provided on-line at different points in the communicationsthan shown here. The video selection process may implement any one ormore routines that are suggested by the examples herein provided.

Once a video is selected, if the user remains on-line during the viewingof the video 930, the user's content preferences are communicated to thevideo provider 931. The video provider server then applies the user'spreferences to the map of the selected video 932 and provides theresulting seamless and continuous presentation of the video that isconsistent with the user's preferences 939. In this case the userremains on-line during the viewing of the presentation 939, but hasaccess to video viewing control functions as if the video was directlyavailable to the player.

Alternatively, the entire video, including all the parallel,overlapping, and transitional segments of multiple versions, the videomap, and seek/step data if necessary, are retrieved from the videoprovider 934. Once downloaded, the player applies the user's preferencesto the map of the selected video 935 and provides a presentation of thevideo that is consistent with the user's preferences 939. In this casethe user has direct access to the player's video viewing controlfunctions. Whether only the resulting presentation(s) of the video isdownloaded, or the entire video, including the video map and seek/stepdata if necessary, the user may interact with the video to the degreethat the user desires. If player is off-line and the interactionrequires additional video from the video services provider, the playerautomatically reestablishes communications with the appropriate videoservices provider and brings the video server up to speed. That is, theplayer automatically provides the required information to enable thevideo server to comply with the user's requirements.

In those instances where multiple versions of a video, the video map,and seek/step data if necessary, is downloaded, the player need notstore all of the segments, and if all of the segments are stored, theyneed not all be stored for more than a transitory period, i.e., the timefor a user to erase the undesired content. A video map provides theinformation to omit the initial storage or to erase, the storage ofcontent of the video. This would be of particular benefit for, forexample, a parent downloading an “R” motion picture, and after viewingit, causing the erasure of those segments which are inconsistent with a“PG” version. Or for example, a user causing, for example, only aRomance version, or the results of keyword searches to be saved. Asignificant advantage of the partial erasure of content is that storagecapacity is freed for a subsequent use. In such instances, the originalvideo maps may be retained; or only the relevant data of the video mapmay be retained separately and/or incorporated within a master videomap. Similarly, the seek/step data may be synchronized to the remainingcontent by deletion, adjustment, and/or cross-reference.

The teachings disclosed herein, directly and indirectly by, for example,incorporation, are intended to show a variety of architectures,services, capabilities, systems, methods, and inventive elements whichare combined and may be combined to suit particular embodiments. Thesynergies among and between the various inventive elements is asignificant feature of the disclosures herein. The various examplesincluded herein demonstrate that it is intended, and deemedadvantageous, that each of the methods detailed herein benefit from theteachings presented with other methods detailed herein and/orincorporated by reference. Further, it is the intent of incorporation toderive the full benefits, as an addition or an alternative, of thelogical integration of the teachings herein with the teachings of thereferences cited. The incorporation by reference at a specific placewithin the specification is not intended to limit the extent to whichthe reference is incorporated, or the manner in which it may beintegrated. Where a teaching may be deemed to be at cross purposes, orotherwise incompatible, with some other teaching, it ought to beunderstood as a possible alternative to be utilized as a particularpreferred embodiment may require. Clearly, it may be neitheradvantageous nor practical for all the elements or a particularcombination of elements to be implemented in a single embodiment.

While elements of the inventions have been detailed in conjunction withspecific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives,modifications and variations are possible and will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. For example,while the detailed disclosure references DVD-Videos and a DVD Navigator;the inventions are not limited to an optical disc format or any othertype of video format, or to the specific capabilities of a navigator.Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives,modifications, variations, and combinations as fall within the spiritand broad scope of the specification. The teachings that have been citedand incorporated herein are offered by way of example, and notlimitation, of the underlying foundation of knowledge and skill that isavailable. Many of the features, components, and methods found in theart may be incorporated, as suggested herein, in a preferred embodiment;and since other modifications and changes varied to fit particularrequirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in theart, the inventions are not limited to the embodiments set forth orsuggested herein. It is to be understood that the inventions are notlimited thereby. It is also to be understood that the specific detailsshown are merely illustrative, and that the inventions may be carriedout in other ways without departing from the broad spirit and scope ofthe specification.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising the steps of: comparing avideo frame rate of one format of a video program (the source videoprogram) to a video frame rate of another format of the video program(the target video program) to generate a conversion factor between thesource video program and the target video program; retrieving a targetvideo frame from within the target video program; storing in a memory,as a bitmap, the target video frame; retrieving, responsive to alocation of the target video frame within the target video program, andresponsive to the conversion factor, each of a plurality of source videoframes from within the source video program; determining equivalencebetween the target video frame and each of the plurality of source videoframes; the determining being responsive to a comparison of bits of abitmap of the target video frame and bits of a bitmap of a source videoframe; generating, responsive to the determining of equivalence,synchronization diagnostic information; and synchronizing, responsive toan analysis of the synchronization diagnostic information, the targetvideo frame and one of plurality of source video frames, thesynchronizing enabling a set of non-sequential video segments of thetarget video program to be equivalent to a set of non-sequential videosegments of the source video program.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe synchronization diagnostic information identifies a video segmentincluded in the one format of a video program and excluded in theanother format of the video program.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe synchronization diagnostic information identifies a video frame withdark values.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the synchronizationdiagnostic information identifies a video frame that is not sufficientlydifferentiated from a previous video frame.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the one format of a video program is an MPEG-2 format, andwherein the another format of the video program is an MPEG-4 format. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the target video program is provided by aDVD-Video.
 7. A method comprising the steps of: comparing a video framerate of one format of a video program (the source video program) to avideo frame rate of another format of the video program (the targetvideo program) to generate a conversion factor between the source videoprogram and the target video program; retrieving a target video framefrom within the target video program; retrieving, responsive to alocation of the target video frame within the target video program, andresponsive to the conversion factor, each of a plurality of source videoframes from within the source video program; determining equivalencebetween the target video frame and each of the plurality of source videoframes, the determining being responsive to an image comparison betweenthe target video frame and each of the plurality of source video frames;generating, responsive to the determining of equivalence,synchronization diagnostic information; and synchronizing, responsive toan analysis of the synchronization diagnostic information, the targetvideo frame and one of the plurality of source video frames, thesynchronizing enabling a set of non-sequential video segments of thetarget video program to be equivalent to a set of non-sequential videosegments of the source video program.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinthe synchronization diagnostic information identifies a video segmentincluded in the one format of a video program and excluded in theanother format of the video program.
 9. The method of claim 7, whereinthe synchronization diagnostic information identifies a video frame withdark values.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the synchronizationdiagnostic information identifies a video frame that is not sufficientlydifferentiated from a previous video frame.
 11. The method of claim 7,wherein the one format of a video program is an MPEG-2 format, andwherein the another format of the video program is an MPEG-4 format. 12.The method of claim 7, wherein the target video program is provided by aDVD-Video.
 13. A method comprising the steps of: comparing a video framerate of one format of a video program (the source video program) to avideo frame rate of another format of the video program (the targetvideo program) to generate a conversion factor between the source videoprogram and the target video program; retrieving a target video framefrom within the target video program; retrieving, responsive to alocation of the target video frame within the target video program, andresponsive to the conversion factor, a source video frame from withinthe source video program; determining equivalence between the targetvideo frame and the source video frame, the determining being responsiveto an image comparison between the target video frame and the sourcevideo frame; generating, responsive to the determining of equivalence,synchronization diagnostic information; and synchronizing, responsive toan analysis of the synchronization diagnostic information, the targetvideo frame and the source video frame.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the synchronization diagnostic information identifies a videosegment included in the one format of a video program and excluded inthe another format of the video program.
 15. The method of claim 13,wherein the synchronization diagnostic information identifies a videoframe with dark values.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein thesynchronization diagnostic information identifies a video frame that isnot sufficiently differentiated from a previous video frame.
 17. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the one format of a video program is anMPEG-2 format, and wherein the another format of the video program is anMPEG-4 format.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the target videoprogram is provided by a DVD-Video.